Telecommunications Act Of 1996 Essay

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was a law that would let anyone enter the communications business and to let any communications business compete in other markets against each other. Prior to the act in 1996, the U.S. telecommunications industry was a monopoly and the act opened the doors to anybody who wanted to be a part of the communications industry. Although it opened the doors to anybody it also led to concentration of media ownership. Concentration of media ownership is essentially when few organizations or individuals own different facets of the media. Early in 2002, three of the five most recognizable conglomerates were Walt Disney, AOL/Time-Warner, and the News Corporation. These 3 conglomerates held control of many, if not all, of the most prominent media outlets in 2002. Media diversity has long been a problem especially via the radio. Media diversity is the misrepresentation of minorities and the constant same media being given to the public. For example, listening to multiple radio stations and they are playing the same music over and over. This is a lack of media diversity. Media ownership has reduced …show more content…
Prior to the Act of 1996 the U.S. telecommunications industry was just one big monopoly. The Act of 1996 wanted to let any communications business compete with other markets. The Act of 1996 was supposed to help minorities in the media but it basically put a stop to any momentum that minorities had before 1996. The Act of 1996 changed media diversity in a big way, while also changing media ownership. Since the Act of 1996 lifted the limit on how many media outlets a company could own this eventually worked out well for big corporations. However, till this day media diversity still seems to be a problem. The same media is being seen and heard throughout all media outlets and it is indeed time for a change to increase media diversity in the United